Margaret, I know it has been a few years since we last made the trip across the pond, but I was wondering if anyone is still alive in Europe? I watched a little bit of Fox News this weekend and I'm afraid everyone in Europe might have died from lack of access to healthcare. What a shame. They had such delicious food and beautiful art.

I am not sure when it happened but the base of the Republican party either got lazy or stupid or both… or maybe they always were. It took me only a few minutes of research on the internet to learn that America spends more on healthcare than any other wealthy nation and yet we don't live longer or have better health outcomes. So unless we just enjoy making health insurance companies rich, all those tea party morons need to use the internet for something other than ordering their penis enhancement pills.

Exactly how expensive does healthcare have to get before we decide to have an honest, meaningful conversation about this? Rush is out there talking about how this will keep you from getting your next raise. I've got news for you Rush. Maybe not for you, but for the rest of the world it already has. Sixty-two percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were linked to medical expenses and almost all of those individuals had health insurance. About 1.5 million families lose their homes to foreclosure every year due to unaffordable medical costs. Over the last few years, health insurance costs for small businesses have increased by over 100%.

The notoriously frivolous Fairbanks Daily News-Miner appears to have been caught Making Fun Of Trig, and the managing editor has written an epic apology: "Today I must apologize to Mrs. Palin personally and on behalf of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner for the choice of words used on the bottom of Wednesday's front page regarding her speaking engagement in Hong Kong this week to a group of global investors. We used offensive language — 'A broad in Asia' — above a small photograph of the former governor to direct readers inside the newspaper to a full story of her Hong Kong appearance." MORE »

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This must have been a day to remember for the amateur. After years of searching, he found what many consider one of the greatest modern historical finds in the UK.

The baby, who is still unnamed and is 24.4 inches (62 centimetres) long, was born by Caesarean section on Monday at a public hospital in North Sumatra province, a gynaecologist who took part in the operation told AFP.

No kidding? Caesarean, you say?

"This heavy baby made the surgery really tough, especially the process of taking him out of his mum's womb. His legs were so big," Binsar Sitanggang said.

"And he had his kung-fu death-grip on her uterus, too," he did not add.

Condi: Either We Stay In Afghanistan Forever, Or Every American Dies Again, Just Like On 9/11

Hey did you guys know that Condi Rice is a dipshit still? It's in the latest news information! "The last time we left Afghanistan, and we abandoned Pakistan … that territory became the very territory on which Al Qaeda trained and attacked us on September 11th. So our national security interests are very much tied up in not letting Afghanistan fail again and become a safe haven for terrorists … It's that simple… if you want another terrorist attack in the U.S., abandon Afghanistan." So… the Bush Administration wanted another terrorist attack in the U.S. between 2002 and 2008? This is the last time we ever trust that Karl Rove. Crooks & Liars

Forget the Afghanistan troop debate: Stop sending billions to fucking Pakistan! "The U.S. Senate approved legislation Thursday to triple civilian financial aid to Pakistan to $7.5 billion over five years, underscoring the country's vital role in the war in Afghanistan and the broader fight against international terrorism." Uh, no. Every dime of foreign aid to Pakistan goes to support the Taliban. Been that way for about 15 years now.

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It's fine, Obama will just make do with Bush's vintage fake legal rationales for torture

A choice bit of news today for terrorists and people who just seem like terrorists: Obama and his legal pals have decided that they will not be giving themselves any more pretend legal authority in order to detain suspicious people indefinitely. It turns out Bush and Cheney did a pretty comprehensive job of back in 2001 rounding up all the authority on Earth and renditioning the shit out of it in Gitmo and Bagram.

"Mark D. Agrast, deputy assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, and Brad Wiegman, a principal deputy and chief of staff in the National Security Division who heads an interagency task force on detention policy, told a group of about 15 activists that the government has all the detention authority it needs and will neither propose nor support any new legislation, according to several people who attended the meeting."

Soulless demented fish-carcass David Broder has recently discovered why Obama is awful and will fail: "But Obama has made it even more explicit, regularly proclaiming his determination to rely on rational analysis, rather than narrow decisions, on everything from missile defense to Afghanistan — and all the big issues at home." How calculating that Obama is. This is not the proper way to govern! What he should do instead of "rely[ing] on rational analysis" is take a poop and see which direction it spins, in the toilet. Counter-clockwise would tell him, "build insane untested missile-krusher dongle in Poland." Washington Post

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House Liberals stand their ground and demand a public option They are standing together and holding their ground and maintaining that they absolutely will not vote for any bill that doesn't have a public option. So can we ignore the Baucus Bacchanalia and wait for what comes out of conference? The House has an equal say, and enough real Liberal Democrats to make a difference.